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A man walks past a bank's money exchange centre in Seoul - Source: Reuters
Towards the end of last year there was a growing feeling around financial markets that the New Zealand economy was on the verge of a real V shaped recovery.
The housing market was rebounding, commodity prices had recovered and business confidence was sky high.
The worst was behind us and 2010 was going to be a bumper year.
Some said unemployment would peak below 7% and the Reserve Bank would be forced to start hiking interest rates as early as March.
Well, six weeks into 2010 and the V shaped recovery is not with us yet.
Yes there is stability, yes some sectors are seeing improvement, but a strong across-the-board recovery is proving to be elusive.
So far this year, unemployment has blown past the 7% peak, the fizz in the housing market has faded, and Christmas retail spending numbers have disappointed.
Household borrowing remains very subdued with consumers not yet keen to take on more debt.
The results so far from corporate reporting season have also been mixed.
Profit falls for the six months to December 2009 have been common amongst Kiwi firms, although many have at least managed to meet the market's expectations.
Some, such as Fletcher Building and Mainfreight, have talked of a distinct up tick in activity during the last three months of 2009. This is encouraging.
However, there is uncertainty amongst the likes of Fletcher Building about whether the improvement seen in that last quarter can be continued into 2010.
Was the upsurge just a result of firms re-stocking after the market lows of March 2009?
Compounding the doubts about the speed of New Zealand's recovery has been the negative vibes coming from Europe.
The fear of Greece defaulting and sparking a sovereign debt crisis has definitely affected confidence levels as has New Zealand's higher than expected unemployment rate.
But it doesn't mean that we are heading for a double dip. The strength of the Australian and Chinese economies and the ongoing strength of dairy commodity prices should see us avoid that.
However, it is a reminder that the strong V shaped recovery - which history shows usually follows a recession - is going to take a little longer than first thought to eventuate.
